Do Recent Bankruptcy Filings Herald More Denver Restaurant Closures? 

We’ve heard again and again how tough it is for restaurants these days, and by all accounts things aren’t getting any easier. Every week, we report on a new closing — sometimes sudden, sometimes long-expected. 

Somewhere between opening and closing are two chains that recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy: the Denver-based Morning Story and national steakhouse brand 801 Chophouse. 

Both remain open. Chapter 11 bankruptcy simply shields companies from creditors while they undergo a court-supervised reorganization. Sometimes they emerge stronger and live on. Often they are acquired. And other times they simply go out of business (either outright or through Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation process). 

Morning Story has locations in Denver, Arvada, and the DTC. Many may remember the restaurant’s DTC location as the center of a controversy last year stemming from an inappropriate interaction with a local social media influencer. 

Staff had given customer Cesar Hinojosa (aka @theunfocusedfoodie) a receipt containing an order for “La Migra” — a term used for Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff, Border Patrol and other institutions that target immigrants within the U.S. The incident sparked a small uproar across social media, leading to the firing of the employee involved and a public apology from the company. 

Among Morning Story’s debts listed in the bankruptcy filings is about $70,000 in back pay owed to employees. It’s not immediately clear if employees are being paid during the Chapter 11 process; Westword has reached out to the company for additional information. 

Meanwhile, the restaurant group behind 801 Chophouse, a national chain with a Denver location inside the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, is now also under Chapter 11 protection. The pricey steakhouse is known for $145 entrees like ribeye and wagyu, as well as its green jacket-clad staff. It has other locations in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Virginia. 

According to the company, the individual restaurants operating under the restaurant group are not in bankruptcy themselves, and remain open. The company points to debts of over $18.7 million incurred in part due to the 2024 closure of its 801 Fish location in downtown Denver. That restaurant also had its share of drama, with landlord Shea Properties suing the owners for not paying rent and causing “significant damage” to the facility while moving out. 

While filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection doesn’t guarantee a restaurant will go out of business, it certainly doesn’t help. When the Bravo Brio Restaurants group entered Chapter 11 last year, the Denver location of Brio Italian Grille (also in Cherry Creek) closed shortly after. Yet in 2021, Punch Bowl Social emerged from its restructuring process — albeit with just one remaining location — after halting its national expansion plans (including the closure of its Central Park location).